HISTORY OF SENECA FALLS COUNTRY CLUB

clubhouse-old-1940-bw July 6, 1925 marks the day the Seneca Falls Country Club was incorporated. That was the day a group of investors from Seneca Falls and Waterloo paid $3,500 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Denny of Riverside, California for 115 acres of land known as the Muffley Farm on Lake Road, that is now country club property. It included the property known as “Pinehurst” and included land, farmhouse, and a 2-story barn on the shores of Cayuga Lake.

The group immediately set out to build a golf course and hired world renowned golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast to consult on the design and Mr. Noble C. Miller from Canandaigua to oversee construction.

Tillinghast was the architect of several upstate New York courses in the golf boom of the 1920’s including the former Ithaca Country Club and the original 9 holes at Highland Park in Auburn.

They designed and built what is now known as the “Old Nine”. The original nine holes were comprised of our current 1st-4th, 9th-12th and 18th holes.

Founding club President Kenneth M. Lyons reported to local newspapers that 125 residents of Seneca Falls and Waterloo comprised the inaugural membership for the first season at SFCC.

clubhouse-old-color2 These original 9-holes remain fully intact today with four exceptions.

Mr. Jerry Stack, who was our club pro at the time, relocated the original 10th and 11th greens in 1941 by moving them each back about 100 feet. Both greens were situated on top of a knoll and were considered unplayable in firm summer conditions.

In the 1970’s the 9th green was re-located from the original location on the south side of the gully that now borders the right side of the current green location.

Also, the 10th tee was relocated when our new clubhouse was constructed in 1999, dramatically changing the tee shot on the par 4.

One interesting note is that the 10th green has a muck base that was trucked in from nearby Montezuma. The same could not be done for the 11th green because the truck could not negotiate the hill to the green.

The original practice green was located just behind the old clubhouse, right about where the patio overlooking the 18th green is currently located.

Gravesite of SFCC's first golf professional William Campbell and wife Catherine The original first tee was located by the entrance to the SFCC and if you look closely in that area you will see 4 stones lying flat on the ground.

These stones served as the foundation for the pro shop where Mr. William Campbell (1888-1944), direct from Scotland, served as our pro from 1927-1938. The bulk of his business was selling pop and candy to the caddies. Mr. Campbell previously served on the staff at world-famous Carnoustie. Mr. Campbell and his wife are buried at Restvale Cemetery in Seneca Falls.

In October of 1926 a Syracuse couple donated a trophy, the “Onondaga Cup” to Seneca Falls Country Club and was engraved with the tournament champion each year.

Ellen Oswald, 2012 NYS Women’s Am Champion

Seneca Falls Country Club, located in the town famous as the birthplace of women’s rights, has a rich history of women’s golf with documented competitions dating back to 1929 when Florence O’Brien became the first SFCC women’s club champion. As this article indicates, over 30 women competed in the 1930 club championship O’Brien was attempting to defend.

In 2012 SFCC hosted the NYS Women’s Amateur Championship won by Ellen Oswald who shot a final round 72 en route to an impressive 54-hole total of 219. The same year Teresa Cleland won the NYS Women’s Mid-Am Championship at SFCC which was conducted concurrently with the Women’s Am.

Marlene Hagge at SFCC in 1950’s

Among the most legendary golfers to play at SFCC is Marlene Hagge who visited to play an well attended exhibition in the late 1950’s. Hagge was the youngest of the thirteen women who founded the LPGA in 1950, and remains the youngest ever member of the LPGA Tour. She would go on to win a total of 26 events on the LPGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1956 LPGA Championship. In 2002, she was voted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and is also an inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

During the summer of 1930, the New York State Department of Transportation announced that it would begin construction of a highway known as the Canoga-Halsey Corners Highway which would divide the clubhouse and barn from the golf course. Consequently, the Board of Directors decided to build a new clubhouse at the site where our present clubhouse now stands.

The land on the east side of what is now Route 89 was sold to Mr. Patrick Mooney for $5,000. The proceeds from the sale were divided among the original investors, each person getting their original money back.

The new highway was to run from Savannah south to Ithaca. Preliminary plans showed that the highway would separate the clubhouse, which later became the Pinehurst Inn, and the maintenance barn from the golf course.

Of much greater concern to the Board of Directors and membership was the fact that our direct neighbors to the North, the owner of the “Bankers” property was a very influential businessman from Buffalo. He aggressively petitioned the State to reroute the highway so that it would not split his property. The state changed its plans so that the roadway would encompass a small corner of Cayuga Lake State Park, proceed in a southwesterly direction across our 12th tee and 11th green, continuing south and heading directly towards our 10th green and back to the east as originally planned, exiting the area where our maintenance facility now stands.

As word of the state’s decision spread throughout the area, Mr. Harry S. Fredenburg, one of the original founders of the club and Chairman of the Seneca County Republican Committee, made several phone calls to Albany and Syracuse. He explained to those in charge of the project that it would be economically disastrous to the club and Seneca County. In taking away so much of the club property it would be virtually impossible to rebuild on the remaining limited amount of land and since the entire golf course would have to be reconstructed. Mr. Fredenburg proposed that it would save taxpayer dollars and lessen the hardship to the club if the highway continues south as originally planned. After numerous calls and a site exploration, the state reconsidered. Mr. Fredenburg won his case.

Now directly behind our 11th green lies a small parcel of land on the west side of Route 89 that still belongs to the “Banker” estate, separated from the main house by the highway. More importantly, our 10th, 11th and 12th holes were saved from destruction, enabling today’s members and guests the privilege of playing three of the finest golf holes in upstate New York.

George McClean, SFCC Golf Professional 1939-1951 George McLean served as our club pro in starting in 1939 and was a member of the original Ryder Cup Team, a roster that included Walter Hagen and lost to Great Britain 9-2 in 1921 at Gleneagles, Scotland. McLean was born in Yonkers, New York. Like most golfers of his era, he worked primarily as a club pro while occasionally competing in PGA Tour events. McLean’s best finishes at the PGA Championship were as a semi-finalist in 1919, 1920, and 1923 while making six overall appearances. His best finish at the U.S. Open was a tie for fifth in 1919 while making eight cuts overall.

In the spring of 1951, Mr. McLean was tragically killed in an auto accident just 6 miles south of Waterloo while returning from Corning visiting his son-in-law, former SFCC Assistant Pro Charles Keating.

According to a local newspaper account, “Mr. McLean had expected to begin work Monday preparing the Seneca Falls Country Club for its official opening April 1, club officers said. He had been pro at the Seneca Falls Club 11 years and had lived in Cayuga St. until they moved to Waterloo a year ago. A native of Yonkers, Mr. McLean began his golf career as a caddy at the Grassy Sprain Golf Club in Yonkers. He had been pro at that club for several years before coming to Seneca Falls.”

Gene Sarazan

“He was winner of the Metropolitan Open on two occasions and was runner-up in the National PGA twice. He played in many national tournaments and was on the first American Ryder Cup team that played in England. Mr. McLean was one of the few nationally and internationally known golfers in this area. For many years he played with Gene Sarazen, noted golfer who visited the Seneca Falls Club last summer for an exhibition.”

Babe Didrickson Golf Exhibition at SFCC On June 16, 1948, Seneca Falls Country Club hosted an exhibition match featuring Babe Didrickson who was considered the greatest women’s athlete in the world. She partnered with George McLean. They would face the teams of Hilda Swanson who had finished runner-up at the 1947 NYS Women’s Amateur Champions and Dr. Rocco Impaglia. Imgaglia was a life-long SFCC member and practiced dentistry in Auburn, NY. Tickets to the event, which was open to the public, were $2.o0.

McLean was succeeded as golf professional by Carmen Ceo. Mr. Ceo was a Seneca Falls native who had returned from a teaching professional position at Sarasota Bay Country Club in Florida. Mr. Ceo started a lighted night driving range using our first fairway. The innovation featured automatic ball dispensers and was open from 8 pm – midnight every Tuesday – Sunday. Mr. Ceo was very popular with club members and after he had moved on professionally, he was still a regular presence at SFCC until his death in 2014.

After the war years things remained relatively quiet at the SFCC until 1964 when the Board of Directors, headed by “Bud” Souhan decided to build a new nine holes and make our golf course a regulation 18 hole course. Mr. Souhan donated his time in addition to labor and materials from his Seneca Knitting Mill to clear the land and get the project started. Also, as part of the project, for the first time an irrigation system would be installed on the old and new nine hole. Construction started on Monday, June 1, 1964.

The new nine, and full 18 hole course officially opened on Sunday, August 22, 1965 at 10:00 am with a ceremony on the first tee. Our head pro at the time was Doug Cousins who many consider to be one of the best golfers to ever play at SFCC.

Ribbon cutting for full 18 hole golf course at SFCC

Two years after the new 9 opened, longtime SFCC member and multiple club champion Stu Miller would set the course record on the new 18 hole track with a 67 on 7/23/67. The current course record from the back tees is a 63 by Nick Serafino set in the early 1990’s. It should be noted that the original “old nine” course record was 61 by Doug Cousins.

In 1965 former President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower and world famous comedian Bob Hope visited Seneca Falls Country Club for a luncheon. They were in town for the groundbreaking of the former Eisenhower College which was a half-mile north of SFCC (currently the Northeast College of Health Sciences). The room the former President dined in was renamed the “Eisenhower Room” in our old club house. It cannot be confirmed if the pair of avid golfers played our course that day.

In the spring of 1967, members Fran and Rose Francis spearheaded a club-wide effort to renovate our aging clubhouse. As has been the case at SFCC throughout the decades, members and business owners donated time, money and materials to complete a capital improvement project. Club Manager Paul Sargent (hired in 1966) reflected on the project in a contribution to the August 1967 edition of Golf World Magazine.

In 1985, the club voted to approve sale of SFCC to Goulds Pumps who continued to operate SFCC as a private, member club. In the early 1990’s Goulds would return ownership to the membership.

In 1987 SFCC hired Nick Serafino to serve at head professional, taking over from long-time pro Mike Cerjanic. Serafino was one of the best players in Central New York in the 1990’s capturing a CNY PGA Championship, qualifying for the B.C. Open on the PGA Tour and has since gone on to be inducted in the CNY PGA Hall of Fame.

Following Serafino’s departure to Lakeside CC in Syracuse, another fine player, Robert Fuller served as head pro at SFCC for almost 10 years until 2012.

In 1989, Romulus HS senior and SFCC member Tim Larsen won the New York State Junior Amateur Championship representing our club. The trophy was displayed in our clubhouse for the remainder of the season.

sfcc-clubhouse-fire-hist-02 In October of 1999 our long standing clubhouse was destroyed by a fire.

During the 2ooo season a large tent was erected in the parking lot as leagues, tournaments, and even social events continued in the shadow of the construction of our new clubhouse.

We were fortunate enough to rebuild in only one year and our 2001 season is hallmarked by the Grand Opening of our new facility.

Because of the construction of the new clubhouse, hole #10 was rerouted to play as a dog-leg right and the tee was moved about 100 yards directly north.

Today as we look back, perhaps it would be proper and fitting to say “Thank You” to that small group of gentlemen who had a dream and the courage and foresight to follow it though:

The original Board of Directors…
Ken Lyons
Michael O’Brien
Maynard Jacoby
H. Delancey Knight
Edwin Smith
Harry Fredenburg
Carl Maier
Charles Pratt
William Bacon

As we play the golf course perhaps they are looking down upon us and smiling as we enjoy the fruits of their labor.